The Mummy Congress

“A fascinating survey of the different aspects of mummy studies” (Bob Brier, author of The Encyclopedia of Mummies).

“Clear, direct and intense … all the stories sparkle. Pringle is a crack-shot storyteller.” —New York Times Book Review

Mummies, experts, and breaking science revealed in journalist Pringle’s fascinating dive into a little-known arena of human studies. Perhaps the most eccentric of all scientific meetings, the World Congress on Mummy Studies brings together mummy experts from all over the globe and airs their latest findings. Who are these scientists, and what draws them to this morbid yet captivating field? The Mummy Congress, written by acclaimed science journalist Heather Pringle, examines not just the world of mummies, but also the people obsessed with them.

“By balancing the eerie fascination for mummies and the colorful personalities of those who have made mummies their avocation, Pringle’s book outclasses any Hollywood horror flick in entertainment as well as information value.”-Booklist (starred review)

“In brisk, vivid prose she delivers the secrets of the mummy trade: mummies as medicine; the self-preservation techniques of Japanese monks; and the Vatican’s modern-day practitioners of the temple priest’s art. Pringle’s mummies and the men and women who love them make for fascinating and lively reading; this book is sure to have, as they say, a very long shelf life.” —Publishers Weekly

• "Clear, direct and intense . . . all the stories sparkle. Pringle is a crack-shot storyteller."
  The New York Times Book Review
• "The author animates the dead in this delightfully macabre piece of mortuary globe-trotting."
  Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
• "By balancing the eerie fascination for mummies and the colorful personalities of those who have made mummies their avocation, Pringle's book outclasses any Hollywood horror flick in entertainment as well as information value."
  Booklist, Starred Review
• "Delightfully unpleasant."
  Washington Post Book World